Where does the trim info go for my clothing design?

Why your trim details don’t belong in your tech pack

I get asked a lot how to tell a factory the details of each trim. 

Where does this information go?

Maybe you know you need to give your manufacturer dimensions for your signature chest logo, but you’re not sure the best place to put this information.

Hopefully you’re already using a tech pack, it seems logical to put all the info for your label here, right? 

Actually, no. 

Your trim details (artwork, size, quality, etc.) belong in their own separate document, what I call a trim development card.

It’s like a mini tech pack, just for the trim.

Here’s the difference between a tech pack and a trim development card:

Your tech pack tells the manufacturer how to make your garment, including what all the components are, where to put them, and how many go into each garment.

Your development card tells your manufacturer how to make your trim. 

Why exactly doesn’t this info belong in your tech pack?

If you’re using the same trim in multiple styles (which hopefully you are for MOQ and cost reasons) and you make a change to it, you don’t want to have to open and update every single tech pack with that trim in it to make the change. 

Duplicating work like this is time consuming, inefficient, and increases the chances you’ll make a mistake or miss something. 

It’s much easier and more efficient to update one dev card and send it to your manufacturer so they know the trim in your tech packs has changed. 

You also don’t want to bog your tech packs down with unnecessary images and the same details over and over again. 

Especially if you are working with overseas factories, you need to be mindful of your file sizes and the smaller the better.

Not sure what information to put in your development card?  Check out my blog post here.

Need help organizing your trims?  Grab my free organizational chart by clicking the button below.